Earlier this week, we reported that Lionsgate's Power Rangers movie was heading into the casting phase with a shortlist of contenders for the lead roles. Looks like things are moving along at a rapid pace as the studio just announced the first cast member... and it's Kimberly aka The Pink Ranger! Newcomer Naomi Scott has landed the role of the cool girl turned rebel-without-a-cause who will don the pink spandex suit (assuming they stick with the classic costumes).
If she sounds unfamiliar, that's because she is. Lionsgate is reportedly looking at unknowns for the central cast with the aim of casting a bigger name in the role of the antagonist. Scott has a brief resume, mostly of small roles. The young English actress got her start in the British adaptation of a Disney Channel Italy series Life Bites and Disney Chanel's TV Movie Lemonade Mouth before appearing in the short-lived FOX series Terra Nova. Most recently, Scott appeared in Ridley Scott’s The Martian and can next be see in the upcoming Chilean miners movie The 33.
Here's the official Pink Ranger casting announcement.
It’s official! #NaomiScott will play the #PinkRanger in the @PowerRangersMovie! Coming in 2017… A photo posted by Power Rangers (@powerrangersmovie) on
In case you missed our exclusive report, here's the character description for the Pink Ranger.
Kimberly – 17 years old, unconventionally cool all in a way the popular girls wish they were. In fact, she was one of those girls, but isn’t anymore. Not since she’s returned to school after an absence of 6 months. Rumors are flying as to why; rumors she seems not to care about, because she’s come back with this new rebel-without-a-cause, edgy attitude. But the truth is, it’s all masking a deep secret that makes her feel profoundly vulnerable.
Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) is set to direct the Power Rangers reboot, which he describes as "a fun, joyful [movie] but one that feels completely grounded in a real world". Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (The Last Witch Hunter) turned in an early draft of the script, with Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz developing a “mature but still playful” take on it, in Israelite’s words.
What do you guys think? Have you ever seen Scott before? Does she give you Pink Ranger-y vibes? Think she can sell "unconventionally cool"? Sound off below.
